ModernUO/Projects/UOContent/Network/ManualAllowlist/ManualAllowlist.cs
Kamron Batman 2dbaa87377
feat: make the blocklist and manual allowlist opt-in; cut the ban subsystem's on-loop cost (#2577)
Two features ran on every shard out of the box, each polling on its own 60s timer for files most shards never generate, neither ever asked for. Fixing that turned into untangling why they shared a config file — and then into the on-loop cost of the three lists behind them.

## Before / after

Measured on the shipped defaults. On-loop numbers are what freezes the world; the tick budget is 8 ms.

| | before | after |
|---|---:|---:|
| Blocklist poll on a shard with no list | every 60s, forever | **none** (opt-in) |
| Manual allowlist poll on a shard with no carve-outs | every 60s, forever | **none** (opt-in) |
| Promote-guard sweep timer | leaked on `Stop()` | stopped, and only started when hits are reported |
| Login allowlist flush, on-loop | O(n) walk + 2 arrays **every 60s**, LOH past ~5,300 entries | reused buffers, **hourly**, zero steady-state allocation |
| Auto-denylist, accept path | 9.1 ns/call | **6.1 ns/call** |
| Auto-denylist, sustained flood at cap (60k rejected) | 26.7 ms | **9.3 ms** |
| Auto-denylist, flood end — **worst single call** | 9.49 ms | **0.05 ms** |
| Auto-denylist cap | 65,536 (stranding 9,895 slots) | **324,449** (exact `HashSet` capacity, ~19 MB) |

The auto-denylist row that matters is the third: the on-loop stall at flood end drops **190×**, because retiring lapsed holds is now the number expiring rather than the number held.

## Why this design

It is built for the shape of attack these shards actually see: **hundreds to a few thousand connections per second**, occasionally tens of thousands, sustained over minutes rather than delivered instantly. Against that shape the cap now covers the whole observed range (50k–250k distinct sources) in memory, and the work of expiring them spreads across the accept calls that were already happening.

There is one case this design is *worse* at than the old one: if every held entry lapses within the same millisecond, retiring them costs ~10.7 ms against the old ~8.9 ms, because the ring's random-access set removals lose to a sequential dictionary scan. Reaching it requires an entire flood to arrive inside one millisecond. **A shard absorbing 324,449 connections in a millisecond is finished at the accept path no matter what this list does** — that is the point where the answer is upstream security and scrubbing (an L4 proxy, edge filtering, a bouncer at the kernel), not a data structure in the game loop. We chose the design that fits the attacks we see and degrades honestly past them, rather than over-engineering for one we do not.

## Blocklist — now opt-in

`BlocklistFilter.Start` only bailed when `_path == null`, which needs `file` to be empty. The default is `"Configuration/ip-blocklist.txt"`, so on any default install both `Task.Run(PollLoop)` and a recurring `SweepGuard` timer started unconditionally, logging *"Blocklist inert: no list at …; polling every 60s"* and then doing exactly that forever.

Adds `"enabled"`, default `false`, using the `_enabled = s.Enabled && <preconditions>` idiom already in `LoginAllowlist` and `AutoDenylist`. **Upgrade is deliberately loud**: a missing key binds to the default, so `LogWhyDisabled()` splits three cases and a shard with a list on disk but no `enabled` key gets a **Warning**, not silence.

## `FileAllowlist` → `ManualAllowlist`, with its own config

Moves to `Configuration/ip-allowlist.json` (`enabled` default `false`, `files`, `reloadInterval`) and into `Network/ManualAllowlist/`, mirroring `Network/LoginAllowlist/`.

It was never a sub-feature of the blocklist. `ManualAllowlist.Contains` has two callers:

| Caller | Could anything else do it? |
|---|---|
| `BlocklistFilter.Evaluate` | **Yes** — the generator already subtracts these files at generation time |
| `BanExemptions.IsExempt` | **No** — sole mechanism for suppressing behavioural ban contributions |

The second reaches `BanChannel.IsExempt` with no blocklist in the path. A shard running **no blocklist** still needs this so the admin's own IP isn't auto-banned by rate-limit detection, so a shared flag couldn't express it — the implication is asymmetric. They still work together via a startup warning when the blocklist is on and the allowlist is not.

On the name: "File" described the storage. The distinction from `LoginAllowlist` is **provenance** — declared by an operator versus earned by authenticating — and "Manual" matches `BanReasons.Manual`. `allowlistFiles` is removed from `BlocklistSettings` outright; blocklists have not shipped long enough for anyone to have set it.

## Login allowlist flush

`Flush()` allocated two arrays sized to the live entry count and copied the whole dictionary into them **on the game loop**, every 60s. `UInt128` is 16 bytes, so past ~5,300 entries that first array was an LOH allocation once a minute, forever. The file write was already off-loop; the walk was not.

Static buffers grown geometrically; the writer owns them until it posts completion back through `Core.LoopContext`, so `_writing`/`_dirty` stay loop state (rule #10). Interval → 1 hour against a 90-day TTL. Clean shutdown writes synchronously via `EventSink.Shutdown`; `HandleClosed` skips `InvokeShutdown` when crashed, so the crash path subscribes separately and only writes when it is actually on the loop thread. Also fixes a pre-existing hole where `_dirty` was cleared *before* the write, so a failed write dropped entries despite the comment promising a retry.

## Auto-denylist: expiry ring

Reclaiming lapsed holds was O(entries held) — every cap-triggered reclaim during a flood walked the whole dictionary to find the few that expired, and `_warnedFull` suppressed the log, not the work.

A hold is **never refreshed** now: the first detection sets the expiry, later ones leave it. That makes insertion order equal to expiry order, so a ring of the same keys is sorted by construction and retiring stops at the first live record. Nothing is lost — the rate limiter runs *ahead* of the connection filters (`NetState.Network.cs`) and reports to the ban channel, so a flooder whose hold lapses is re-held on its next attempt.

Because the ring carries the expiry, the membership side only answers "present?", so it is a `HashSet` — measured at **36 B/slot against the dictionary's 52**. `HashSet` and `Dictionary` share `HashHelpers`, so the from-empty capacity progression is identical (36,353 → 75,431 → 156,437 → 324,449 → 672,827) and the cap still lands on one exactly. The ring is parallel `UInt128[]`/`long[]` rather than an array of structs — `UInt128` forces 16-byte alignment, so a packed pair costs 32 bytes where these cost 24, and the drain reads only the `long[]`.

Rejected after measuring: splitting the drain into a scan loop plus a removal loop (inside noise — both issue N hash removes, and the pointer math was never the bottleneck), and `Dictionary<UInt128,bool>` with tombstoning instead of removal (10% slower *and* unbounded, which breaks the cap).

## Testing

Build clean, 0 warnings. **1,530 tests pass** — 708 UOContent, 822 Server.

Tests were reworked rather than patched: the refresh test inverts to `Repeat_detection_does_not_extend_the_hold`, the obsolete sweep-throttle test is deleted along with the throttle, and four were added for the ring — set/ring parity, release-then-re-hold not being retired by the stale record, exact fill of a non-power-of-two cap, and the moved allowlist config's casing contract. The throttle test added mid-PR was verified to fail without its fix before being deleted.

One commit is comments only (verified: a diff filtered of `//` lines is empty), removing development narration — a `"(Task 2)"` plan reference, `"matching the per-feature JSON config pattern used by X"` across four loaders, a duplicated threading note — and repointing `Firewall` at `dev-docs/ip-bans-and-allowlists.md` instead of a "ban-channel design doc" that does not exist.

Note `Distribution/Configuration/blocklist.json` is gitignored (`.gitignore:14`) and generated from the record defaults on first boot, so the record default *is* the shipped default.
2026-08-13 23:22:35 -07:00

340 lines
11 KiB
C#

/*************************************************************************
* ModernUO *
* Copyright 2019-2026 - ModernUO Development Team *
* Email: hi@modernuo.com *
* File: ManualAllowlist.cs *
* *
* This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify *
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by *
* the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or *
* (at your option) any later version. *
* *
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License *
* along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. *
*************************************************************************/
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Server.Logging;
namespace Server.Network.Bans;
/// <summary>
/// The operator's own "leave this address alone" list, read from the same files
/// <c>tools/Export-IpBlocklist.ps1</c> subtracts at generation time.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// The generator already subtracts these from the blocklist, but that only covers being BLOCKED.
/// Behavioural detections never consult the blocklist, so without reading the files here a carve-out is
/// quietly routed around: one scanner behind a shared CGNAT address is enough to get the whole address
/// contributed and firewalled. Reading them also means an entry applies on the next reload rather than the
/// next regeneration. Opt-in via <c>ip-allowlist.json</c>'s <c>enabled</c>, since the poll runs for the
/// whole uptime; no shield against a manual ban either — see <see cref="BanExemptions"/>.
/// </remarks>
public static class ManualAllowlist
{
private static readonly ILogger logger = LogFactory.GetLogger(typeof(ManualAllowlist));
// Written by the reload poll (off-loop), read by the accept path (game loop). One volatile reference
// swap is the whole synchronization story: readers see the old or the new snapshot, whole.
private static volatile BlocklistSnapshot _snapshot = BlocklistSnapshot.Empty;
private static string[] _patterns = [];
private static TimeSpan _interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60);
private static long _lastStamp;
private static CancellationTokenSource _cts;
public static int Count => _snapshot.Count;
/// <summary>True when an operator listed this address. Safe before <see cref="Initialize"/>.</summary>
public static bool Contains(IPAddress address) => address != null && _snapshot.Contains(address);
/// <summary>True when the shard is reading allowlist files. Safe before <see cref="Initialize"/>.</summary>
public static bool Enabled { get; private set; }
public static void Initialize()
{
ManualAllowlistConfiguration.Load();
var settings = ManualAllowlistConfiguration.Settings;
if (settings == null)
{
return;
}
_patterns = ResolvePaths(settings.Files);
_interval = settings.ReloadInterval <= TimeSpan.Zero ? TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60) : settings.ReloadInterval;
if (!settings.Enabled)
{
// The generator still subtracts these files, so a carve-out an operator already wrote looks
// like it works right up until a behavioural detection contributes the address anyway.
var present = ExpandPaths().Length;
_patterns = [];
if (present > 0)
{
logger.Warning(
"Manual allowlist is off (\"enabled\" false in ip-allowlist.json) but {Count} allowlist file(s) " +
"are present; those carve-outs will not suppress ban contributions",
present
);
}
else
{
logger.Information("Manual allowlist disabled (\"enabled\" false in ip-allowlist.json)");
}
return;
}
if (_patterns.Length == 0)
{
logger.Information("Manual allowlist disabled (\"files\" empty in ip-allowlist.json)");
return;
}
Enabled = true;
Reload();
_cts = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(Core.ClosingTokenSource.Token);
_ = Task.Run(() => PollLoop(_cts.Token), _cts.Token);
}
public static void Stop()
{
_cts?.Cancel();
_cts?.Dispose();
_cts = null;
}
private static string[] ResolvePaths(string[] configured)
{
if (configured == null)
{
return [];
}
var resolved = new string[configured.Length];
var count = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < configured.Length; i++)
{
var path = configured[i];
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(path))
{
continue;
}
// Relative resolves against BaseDirectory, never the working directory, which differs when the
// shard is launched from elsewhere. Absolute is as-is, so shards can share a list.
resolved[count++] = Path.IsPathRooted(path) ? path : Path.Join(Core.BaseDirectory, path);
}
Array.Resize(ref resolved, count);
return resolved;
}
/// <summary>
/// Expands the configured patterns to actual files. Done per poll rather than once, so a carve-out an
/// admin adds is picked up without a restart.
/// </summary>
private static string[] ExpandPaths()
{
var files = new List<string>();
for (var i = 0; i < _patterns.Length; i++)
{
var pattern = _patterns[i];
var name = Path.GetFileName(pattern);
if (name.IndexOf('*') < 0 && name.IndexOf('?') < 0)
{
if (File.Exists(pattern))
{
files.Add(pattern);
}
continue;
}
try
{
var dir = Path.GetDirectoryName(pattern);
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(dir) || !Directory.Exists(dir))
{
continue;
}
var matches = Directory.GetFiles(dir, name);
Array.Sort(matches, StringComparer.Ordinal);
for (var j = 0; j < matches.Length; j++)
{
// Windows wildcard matching still honours legacy short names, so ".txt" can pull in the
// generator's ".txt.tmp" mid-swap. Check the real extension.
if (matches[j].EndsWith(".txt", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
files.Add(matches[j]);
}
}
}
catch
{
// Unreadable directory; the next poll retries.
}
}
return files.ToArray();
}
private static async ValueTask PollLoop(CancellationToken token)
{
while (!token.IsCancellationRequested)
{
try
{
await Task.Delay(_interval, token);
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
return;
}
try
{
if (Stamp() != _lastStamp)
{
// A save owns the disk and nothing here is urgent.
// See the threading policy in CLAUDE.md (rules #3 and #10).
while (World.Saving || World.WorldState == WorldState.PendingSave)
{
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1), token);
}
Reload();
}
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
return;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
logger.Warning(e, "Manual allowlist reload check failed; keeping last snapshot ({Count})", Count);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Change fingerprint across every configured file. A missing file contributes nothing, so creating or
/// deleting one also registers as a change.
/// </summary>
private static long Stamp()
{
var stamp = 0L;
var paths = ExpandPaths();
for (var i = 0; i < paths.Length; i++)
{
try
{
var info = new FileInfo(paths[i]);
if (info.Exists)
{
stamp = stamp * 31 + info.LastWriteTimeUtc.Ticks + info.Length;
}
}
catch
{
// Mid-swap by the generator; the next poll picks it up.
}
}
return stamp;
}
private static void Reload()
{
// Fingerprint BEFORE parsing, so it describes the version being read. Capturing after could skip a
// version; a stale fingerprint only costs an extra reload.
var stamp = Stamp();
var combined = ReadAll(out var files);
// Reuses the blocklist parser and interval index: an address set is direction-agnostic.
var next = combined.Length == 0
? BlocklistSnapshot.Empty
: BlocklistSnapshot.Build(combined, out _, out _);
_snapshot = next; // single volatile swap; readers see old or new whole
_lastStamp = stamp;
logger.Information(
"Manual allowlist loaded {Count} range(s) from {Files} file(s)",
next.Count,
files
);
}
/// <summary>
/// Concatenates every configured file into one buffer. The parser is line-based, so a newline join is
/// enough, and membership stays a single lookup.
/// </summary>
private static byte[] ReadAll(out int files)
{
files = 0;
var paths = ExpandPaths();
var chunks = new byte[paths.Length][];
var total = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < paths.Length; i++)
{
try
{
if (!File.Exists(paths[i]))
{
continue;
}
var bytes = File.ReadAllBytes(paths[i]);
chunks[i] = bytes;
total += bytes.Length + 1; // + newline separator
files++;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// Fail open per file: losing one entry beats refusing to load the rest.
logger.Warning(e, "Could not read allowlist \"{Path}\"", paths[i]);
}
}
if (total == 0)
{
return [];
}
var combined = new byte[total];
var offset = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < chunks.Length; i++)
{
var chunk = chunks[i];
if (chunk == null)
{
continue;
}
Buffer.BlockCopy(chunk, 0, combined, offset, chunk.Length);
offset += chunk.Length;
combined[offset++] = (byte)'\n';
}
return combined;
}
internal static void LoadForTesting(BlocklistSnapshot snapshot) => _snapshot = snapshot ?? BlocklistSnapshot.Empty;
}